


Celebrating Hubert

by Jam Blute (CrookedCompass)



Series: Ferdibert Week 2020 [8]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Ferdinand von Aegir & Dorothea Arnault are Best Friends, First Kiss, Gay, M/M, POV Hubert von Vestra, Soft Hubert von Vestra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:22:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25942792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrookedCompass/pseuds/Jam%20Blute
Summary: Surprising Hubert with a birthday party is tough enough, with his attentive nature, but to surprise him with a first kiss on the same day as well? Well, Ferdinand von Aegir is up to the task!
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Series: Ferdibert Week 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1878058
Comments: 12
Kudos: 79
Collections: Ferdibert Week 2020





	Celebrating Hubert

Even here, getting a mandated haircut from Hubert, Linhardt seemed to be dozing off. He persistently put his basic needs off to the point where Hubert couldn’t stand another day of seeing their chief medic so clearly uncared for. Knowing Linhardt, it was a double-edged lesson in how others felt in Hubert’s company, but that was beside the point for him. He knew how to properly neglect his needs and for worthy causes—not avoiding a simple trim for the sake of Linhardt’s most recent scholastic flight of fancy.

His room was the easiest place for it and the least intrusive to the ongoing war effort since most areas of the reclaimed monastery were dedicated to more combative matters. Hubert should have expected that it would also draw in the others within the Strike Force. Caspar leaned into the doorway with an unnecessarily bright grin just as soon as he was wrapping up Linhardt’s cut.

“Hey there, Hubert! You giving away free haircuts?”

“As if I would charge.” They worked with him and Her Majesty, and their care and general well-being was as much part of his duties as any other task that filled his day. Charging them for it would be entirely unnecessary.

“Hm?” As Linhardt lifted his head to turn and look, Hubert stopped his cutting. “Oh, hello, Caspar.”

“So you did fall asleep.” Gently guiding him to look forward again with slight pressure from a few fingers on the side of his head, Hubert continued his work. He had more to do today than simply this.

“You have a very soothing way about you, Hubert. When you want to.” That gave Hubert a moment’s pause. What could he mean by that? Hubert was a great many things to the Black Eagles Strike Force, but _soothing_ didn’t rank highly among them.

“Hubert, you got enough time for another haircut? I was gonna ask Dorothea, but,” Caspar winced, stepping just into the room. “I’m pretty sure she’ll ask me to do her chores if I do.”

Snipping away at Linhardt’s dead ends, Hubert nodded. “Very well.” Pointing with the scissors to the corner of the room behind him and to Caspar’s side, he instructed him on where he should wait. “Take a seat by the chessboard until I’ve finished.”

* * *

Soon, his room became an impromptu hair salon, and the most troubling aspect of it was how remiss Hubert had been in paying attention to the other generals serving under Her Majesty. Had everyone been allowing their needs to fall to the wayside, and Hubert demanding Linhardt accept help for it reminded the others as well? He would need to be more attentive to ensure they were taking better care of themselves.

Ferdinand had some selfish interest in it, of course, considering they had recently begun dating of sorts. They were courting one another, that much was certain, but nothing official had been said just yet. At present, most of their interactions outside of work were tea breaks and leisurely walks when they were able. Some of which, they held hands during. It became increasingly obvious that Ferdinand was far more tactile than expected, and having his hair cut was precisely the kind of nurturing attention he would thrive under. And Hubert was more than willing to give it.

Next, Edelgard caught wind of Hubert’s makeshift hair salon and said she was somewhat overdue for a trim. Although he had to disagree once she was in the chair, Hubert couldn’t deny her. Her Majesty enjoyed mundane, leisurely activities of daily life and common people far more than her Imperial duties. While he couldn’t always indulge her on that, that made it all the more essential to permit it where he could.

And who would Dorothea be if she did not hear of this opportunity before the morning was out? She was far from needing a haircut, but Hubert suspected she simply wanted the experience of him offering her one. He hadn’t realized so many of them trusted a known assassin with blades near their head, but they did know him better than most. And in a greater capacity than merely a sinister blade in the night.

His release from haircare requirements and preferences for the Strike Force came when Petra arrived, smiling to him and Dorothea by way of greeting.

“I have come to say the professor is wanting us to gather.”

“Hm. I wonder what for.” Meetings had not yet begun for the day, and their weekly assignments were already laid out days ago. Hubert set the scissors down on the table behind him, picking up his gloves to put them on now that this task, at least, was at its end. His usual work hadn’t started yet, and now there was a meeting to derail his schedule as well. Part of Hubert’s mind set to restructuring his day while the remainder focused on the meeting ahead.

“She was not saying the reason, only that it is having great importance. We will be meeting in the gardens.”

“How unusual.”

“Oh, Hubie!” Dorothea interrupted, looking at her new haircut in the mirror. Nothing more than a trim with some new layers for her curls to accentuate, but her tone suggested she was pleased with the results. “It’s gorgeous! You truly do have a gift.” Putting the mirror down on the seat behind her, she looped her arm in his and practically dragged him off to the hall. “Well, let’s not keep the professor waiting!”

Apparently, the sweeping and general order of his quarters was going to wait. There was no method he’d discovered to dissuade Dorothea on a mission.

* * *

As he turned the corner to the seating area under a large gazebo in the gardens, Hubert was already piecing together what this meeting was about. He’d wrongly assumed that they didn’t know his birthday and therefore planned nothing to celebrate. Her Majesty told the professor in their academy days when it was, and five years sleeping beside a river plainly did nothing to remove that knowledge from her memory. At least he was prepared when those gathered shouted surprise rather than his usual response to sudden, unexpected screaming of any kind.

“A surprise,” Hubert acknowledged, stilted and awkward despite himself. There was no sense lying to them about this matter. “Not my favorite, but impressive nonetheless.”

“Don’t be dour,” Shamir teased, smirking as she crossed her arms. “We’ve been decorating and wrapping all day, and teaching Dorothea and Ferdinand to make this Dagdan cake wasn’t easy. For once, just sit back and appreciate it.”

“A dark chocolate coffee cake,” he guessed, looking over the layered square cake dotted with dollops of coffee cream. He’d read about it but never found it to try for himself. It’s not as though they served cakes with intense coffee flavors in the academy. “It is very thoughtful of you. But how did you know I would force Linhardt into a haircut?”

“Oh, we didn’t,” Linhardt admitted, smiling blearily in a seat by the gifts. “But it was a convenient distraction.”

“Very,” Edelgard chimed in, smirking from her spot beside the professor. Even Byleth smiled and Hubert had to admit, everyone seemed pleased with themselves. Surely, he could humor a single birthday party at the expense of his daily agenda. “I couldn’t tell you to take the day off too early, and we all know you cannot refuse a chance to mother hen us.”

She was giving him the day off? Ferdinand and Byleth could feasibly oversee the deeds he carries out in the light of day, but Lady Edelgard had to know nothing would get between him and his tasks mired in shadow. It didn’t matter if she knew or not, he supposed. That she believed he took the whole day off was more important.

Hubert just shook his head and sighed. First, he was soothing and now, he’s a mother hen. “It’s impolite to spread lies about me, Your Majesty.”

“But,” Bernadetta uncharacteristically spoke to him unprompted, curled up in a chair at a table set back from the group. At least she wasn’t underneath it. He did his best not to show his surprise lest it frighten her into never doing so again. “You always keep an eye out for me to make sure I’m safe, and it’s…” Suddenly aware of his attention, she picked at invisible lint on the knees of her pants and stared intently at her hands as she did. “Kind of sweet.”

Caspar was unable to remain still or silent for long, jumping up from his seat beside Linhardt. “Yeah, and you’re always giving me tips on fighting! I’m pretty good, but you help me get even better.”

Finally slipping her arm out of his, Dorothea glided over to stand with Ferdinand, beaming brightly and weighing out what he wanted to say. No doubt to make it perfect as though he was capable of anything else. Even when he was not quite what a situation called for, Ferdinand gave every task all that he had. And what more could anyone ask for?

“Not to mention the timely reminders of what to do and when, if a bit curt,” Dorothea joined in the group praise for him with a wink. “I doubt Linhardt could function without you.”

As Caspar’s exact opposite in many regards, Linhardt leaned forward to rest his head against the table. “I could function just fine until something pressing came up. I bet he’d have a failsafe in place for that too, just in case.”

The party preparations appeared to have rendered them all unable to recall that Hubert found compliments directed at him generally unsettling. Despite being able to move since Dorothea stepped aside, he stayed in place where they arrived. His last pleasant birthday party with more than Lady Edelgard present had been 15 years ago. To say he was unprepared for this was a vast understatement.

“That is our Hubert!” Ferdinand finally came to a conclusion on what to say, his smile somehow brighter as he drew himself up. “He comes perfectly prepared for nearly all possible scenarios.”

“There’s no need for such theatrics.” He did grant Hubert slack to be less than prepared for this exact situation, but something about ‘our Hubert’ brought about the thought of what it might be like to hear Ferdinand call him ‘my Hubert’. And that did not help his concentration.

“That’s the point of a birthday,” Byleth interrupted not quite helpfully either. “We’re celebrating you.”

“Accept it, Hubert. You like to be needed.”

Shamir’s addition was the final straw and Hubert finally took the nearest chair as his own. Tall as he was, they weren’t quite comfortable to him, but they would suffice. “Very well. You have me beaten. Am I expected to cut the cake?”

“I wouldn’t dream of taking that joy from Ferdinand.” Dorothea gently nudged him with her elbow, graceful in even that. She was well-suited to the stage without even thinking about it. Perhaps, when the war was behind them, she’d return to the opera company.

In the meantime, a blush joined Ferdinand’s smile and he picked up the cake knife beside the elegant serving dish it rested on. “Yes, allow me to cut you the first slice! You would like a corner piece, I assume?”

“Bet you can’t guess who made the frosting,” Shamir prodded, smirking at Ferdinand and making that blush a shade or two darker. There were no instances Hubert could think of that would make Ferdinand less attractive to him, but blushing was one of few that inherently made him more appealing. The danger was in seeing too much of it, where it became contagious.

“Well, I—I just thought he would prefer that piece.” Seeing his bashful side surface, delicate and in need of encouragement, led to an instinctual answer from Hubert at last.

“A corner piece is fine, Ferdinand.”

* * *

Bearing with his awkwardness, the party went smoothly enough. Bernadetta’s gift was embroidered gloves she made for him with richly dark red flowers on the backs of the hands. A compromise between beautiful and striking, as he commented, and that brought a smile to her face as well as his. Flowers were not typically his preferred embellishment, but a handmade gift was still quite thoughtful. And they were notably more discreet than the embroidered flower pin she made for him too.

Dorothea somehow managed to get him a music box with a spinning crystal inside, which she found suitably magical and calming enough for him to have. With the strict orders to smile more, of course. Petra’s present was a brooch in a similar shape as the one he already wore, but containing dried flowers for protection and good fortune from Brigid culture. By means unknown, Edelgard acquired a rare tome blacklisted by the Church on the history and development of certain schools of magic. Of course the Emperor would discover a way to do that without going through his channels.

The gift from Byleth was seasonings and an accompanying cooking guide to using them properly, and he had to wonder how much of the past felt more distinct to her for missing the five years that passed between. There were some rather shameful incidents in his academy years he would prefer she forgot.

But the onslaught of gifts waited for no man, and Shamir presented him with an enchanted dagger. When activated, it would inflict paralysis upon the target for a brief time. It certainly paid to have a mercenary on their team who knew the various uses and benefits of such a rare weapon. The implication was that it could not be repaired once its enchantments wore off, but Hubert was confident he could think of some solution to that problem in that time. If not, there was a number of Vestra engineers to handle the task in his stead.

Naturally, Caspar neglected to appreciate moderation and neatly wrapped an entire stack of strategy games that managed not to overlap with those he owned. Unable to decide, he proudly got them all. Equally as unsurprising was Linhardt getting him a pillow and blankets with the languid command to get some rest for a change with the full awareness that bedding was entirely unrelated to the reason he slept less than others did.

Lastly, there was Ferdinand. With no gifts left on the table, he could only conclude it was another concealed gift like the party itself.

“For my gift,” Ferdinand began, stepping forward to Hubert’s seat with a new blush coming to his cheeks. “You will need to close your eyes.”

“Another surprise? Ferdinand, you know I am not fond of—”

“Please, it is very important to the gift. It will be quick, I promise!”

With that endearing pleading, how could Hubert do anything but comply? They certainly knew how to play against Hubert’s fondness for them to their advantage, but none quite so damnably as Ferdinand. Closing his eyes, he allowed that gesture to speak for itself.

He refrained from jumping when he felt his calloused fingers on his face, turning him to face Ferdinand and look slightly up. Initially, Hubert assumed there would be some commissioned painting hung above them with connections to a legend Ferdinand thought of as a parallel to them, with his operatic habits and nature. He wasn’t as opposed to that as he let on, a fact Ferdinand did know well by now.

What he did not expect was Ferdinand leaning in, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. At once, he felt guilt for not taking better care of his own lips—perpetually chapped despite his best efforts due to side effects from dark magic depleting the natural moisture in his skin—and an odd sort of lightness at feeling Ferdinand’s on his all the same. Soft, well cared for, and leaving a trace of tea on Hubert’s lips as a reminder that this truly occurred.

“You… You can open your eyes now.”

“Yes, of course.” Opening his eyes, he was met with the same redness to Ferdinand’s face as he felt in his own.

“So? What did you think?”

Moons ago, he would be livid. Not only at the brazen attempt to kiss him, but to do so publicly. Unthinkable, even for Ferdinand, who cared so much for noble propriety. But even in that short time, so much had changed. And it was his birthday, so he was entitled to a measure of indulgence. Faintly, Hubert smiled. “Even I can’t form an accurate assessment from one example, Ferdinand.”

“Ah, I see.” Smiling as he trailed his fingers along Hubert’s jaw to step back, Ferdinand looked all the more radiant for his proud bashfulness. An odd combination, but… endearing. “We shall have to continue this study another time, then.”

“What was that about?” Caspar leaned back to ask the professor, tilting his chair at a worrisome angle.

“It was actually pretty smooth.”

“Huh?” Caspar twisted his face in even more confusion, as out of touch with deeper emotions as always. For someone with such keen intuition and powerful sentiments himself, it was certainly unusual that he found them difficult to navigate. But Hubert supposed he was not that different from Caspar in that regard.

“Hubie wants another kiss,” Dorothea practically sang.

“Okaaaaay, so why didn’t he just say that?“

Not content to leave it be, Lady Edelgard even encouraged it with a playful grin. “The direct method never has been Hubert’s style.”

“He can be painfully direct, I assure you,” Linhardt muttered from his new nap spot, finishing it off with a yawn.

“It seems you have collectively forgotten that I am still within earshot.”

“Oh, not at all!” Dorothea chimed, waving the notion away elegantly. “Happy birthday, Hubie!”

**Author's Note:**

> It's the free day for Ferdibert week, so have the birthday fic I didn't finish in time for Hubert's birthday!
> 
> If you're curious what cake I mentioned, it's [this one](https://www.alsothecrumbsplease.com/chocolate-coffee-cake-recipe/)! I have not tried it because I somewhat ironically don't like coffee.
> 
> You can [follow me on Tumblr](https://jamblute.tumblr.com/) or [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/jamblute/) for more of my works and just things I like to share and chat about in general. Any comments here are loved and welcome!


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